“I don’t want to lose my national team spot to anyone.”
Samsung Lions’ Won Tae-in, 22, is one of the favorites to make the final roster for the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. He has international experience, having been called up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and has been a consistent performer for Samsung as a homegrown ace.
Having worn the national jersey twice, Won Tae-in has a lot to be proud of. I felt a lot of national pride. The flag on his chest is a source of pride for Won. Of course, winning a gold medal at the Asian Games comes with a military exemption, but that’s not the most important part for him right now. The pride of wearing the flag is more important.
“After two international competitions, I don’t want to lose my place in the national team. “I don’t want to lose my place in the national team after two international tournaments.” “I’m greedy, I’m too eager. The reason for my initial slump was because of the pressure, I was thinking, ‘I went to the WBC, I shouldn’t go,’ but I don’t want anyone to take away my place in the national team, including military exemptions.”
Won is 3-3 with a 4.17 ERA in 10 appearances this season. He had an up-and-down start to the season, but in his last two games, he’s had quality starts (six starts with three or fewer earned runs) and is gradually getting back to the pitcher we know.
“I don’t know how it’s going to show up on the field, but I’ve felt a lot of changes, which is a really big change for a pitcher 메이저놀이터. The analytics team has helped me a lot, and I’ve been playing catch with the coaches and focusing on getting my balance back,” Won said.
One video the analytics team sent him shocked him. He was pitching in the direction he hated the most. The video of his worst outing of the season, against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on March 23, woke him up. Won had struggled in 4.2 innings, giving up six runs on 13 hits while striking out six.
“I’m not Ahn Woo-jin or Moon Dong-joo, but I think I lost my advantage by trying to follow them. I didn’t realize I was throwing like that, and the video they showed me was really shocking. I didn’t realize that I was going in the direction that I hate the most. After watching that video, I knew that I really needed to change. I spent the whole week playing catch with the coaches and made a lot of changes. It’s only going to get better,” he added.
“Watching the video helped me a lot. It was noticeable. I think I lost a little bit of power and my right hip wasn’t feeling great, so I was just trying to play it safe. Now it’s back again. My velocity is up, and my command is up a lot,” he smiled.
He also had a word to say about his home runs. Won has given up eight homers this season, including six consecutive games without one. That’s tied for second in the league.
“So I asked Seung-hwan Oh once, ‘What should I do if a good pitch turns into a home run?’ I jokingly asked him, ‘I don’t know anymore because I got hit by a home run,’ and he said, ‘If you get hit by a home run, you should just accept it and move on.’ A bad pitch can turn into a hit, or it can turn into a home run. If it turns into a home run, the hitter did a good job,” he said.
“But if you give up a home run and still get a quality start, I think you’ve done a good job as a starting pitcher,” he said. “This year, I’m going to try to make pitches that don’t run. Whether I get hit by a home run or not, I’m going to go for the longest inning and the least amount of runs.”
